[From Once a Hero]
...
3rd Person POV:
The next day Tony remained quiet as he pressed his fingers against his forehead, face scrunched up in mild pain.
"Are you ok?" Ziva asked, jolting him out of his headache fueled daze. He grimaced and blinked heavily, catching the full attention of Claire from across the room. She watched silently, taking notice that he really didn't look all that great. He looked exhausted.
"Never better." Tony grumbled unconvincingly.
"You look run over." Ziva told him with concern.
"The term is run down….I do?" he asked in surprise. Tony reached over to pop the CD out of the player on his desk and flipped it around so he could see his reflection. He frowned in displeasure at what he saw.
"Maybe you need servicing." Ziva smirked as she watched him. Tony lowered the CD with a deadpan stare.
"Clearly we're still having some problems with the idiosyncrasies of the English language." He drawled tiredly.
"The finely tuned engine I think you called it." Ziva recalled. Tony sighed, nodding in agreement. Claire stared at him thoughtfully. Just because they were currently at odds with one another doesn't mean she didn't care about his well-being.
"You should see a doctor." She suggested quietly. Tony glanced over at her, hopeful from her first friendly remark in days. He smiled slightly in her direction before going back to staring down at his reflection once more with a grimace. Suddenly his cell phone rang, and Tony scrambled to fish it out of his pocket. He flipped it open and frowned, realizing that was not what was ringing. Placing it down he spun around and started digging through his bag, pulling out another cell. Claire and Ziva watched him with wide eyes. Tony had a second cellphone?
"Hello?" he asked quietly.
"Hi….yea….no its not a bad time." Tony chatted with the other line, grinning and chuckling as he did so. Claire watched from across the room, her face scrunched up in hurt and confusion. His demeanor was tensed but at the same time he was gushing over the phone pleasantly as if it was a friend. Why would he have a second cellphone? And who was he so friendly with on the other line?
"…this afternoon will be great….well I will see you then…ok bye.." he quickly hung up, tucking the phone away once more before turning back to his work. Ziva quickly jerked back to act as if she was not staring while Claire didn't move. She remained watching him intently from across the room. The sickening feeling just increased as he acted as if nothing happened.
"Two cellphones huh?" Claire pointed out, her tongue digging into her cheek to keep her emotions at bay. Tony blanched minutely before grinning to cover it up.
"Uh…one for each ear." He joked. Claire stared at him blankly.
"Um it's just a spare. This one has actually been on the fritz." He explained evasively, shaking his regular cell.
"This is another word you probably don't know the meaning of." Tony redirected towards Ziva in an effort to distract from the situation.
"Acts up?" she answered, looking up at him. Tony nodded in approval.
"I'm impressed." He mused. The three of them sat in silence, Tony actively trying not to look over at Claire who was burning a hole in the side of his head. He dramatically stretched before slinging on his coat as he stood.
"Alright, I'm heading out. Going to see a doctor…about being run over….down." he muttered, strapping on his gun and making his way to the elevator.
"Don't forget fritz." Ziva pointed out, nodding to the phone left on his desk. Tony stared at her in confusion before quickly realizing his mistake. He snatched up the phone and cheered childishly as he tossed it to himself. Tony quickly made his exit. Claire sat there for a moment, her fist clenching on top of the desk before she broke and took off after him. She bounded towards the elevator and when Tony spotted her his eyes widened and he quickly went to press the 'close door' button. She growled and stuck her hand in between the doors just before they closed. A smug grin slid across her face as Tony sighed and slouched against the back wall. The lift started back up and they stood in silence once more.
"So….two phones?" she lamely started, staring up at the ceiling.
"Yup.." the cab was filled with silence once more. Claire ground her teeth, tapping her fingers anxiously against her thigh. With a huff she reached over and turned off the elevator. Tony stared at her in surprise.
"What was that for?" he inquired curiously. Claire spun around and held her arms across her chest tightly.
"What has got you so exhausted? And do you really need a second phone?" she blurted anxiously. The man across from her groaned and ran a hand down his face.
"This again? Look it's not anything you need to be concerned about." He brushed off, reaching for the switch. Claire slapped his hand away; Tony yelping and holding his hand in pain.
"Nothing to be concerned about? So just because we no longer sleep together it means that I have no right to care about your well-being." She snapped. Tony pursed his lips, biting his tongue.
"You can care but I need you to care as a friend." He explained tightly. Claire jerked her head back indignantly.
"Ok…..then as a friend I care that you're up half the night, getting second cellphones, and eating your way to a heart attack." She shot back pointedly.
"No, as my friend I need you to just be there for me and not nitpick about what I'm doing with my life. If you can't do that then I don't think we can make even this friendship work." Tony barked, staring at her sternly. Claire swallowed and fell back into silence. He had never truly yelled at her before.
"Just. Leave. It. Alone." He added lowly. Tony watched as her face scrunched up and jaw tightened as she struggled internally with what he was asking of her. But he knew that she needed to back off before she got herself into trouble and he couldn't protect her. He needed her in his life but in order to keep her they had to establish boundaries. Claire pressed her fingers into her eyes roughly. After blowing out some air she turned and started the elevator back up.
"Fine….but I don't have to like it." She muttered. Tony chuckled. He wouldn't expect her to.
"I know, I'm not asking that of you." he quietly assured. Claire turned to glare at him.
"I'm still mad at you, so don't expect me to be so warm and fuzzy about this." she warned. Tony nodded solemnly.
"I know." He whispered, leaning farther back against the wall of the elevator. They rode the rest of the way down in silence until Tony's floor came up.
"Tell Gibbs I'll be back soon." He told her as he exited, not looking back to see her face. It was nowhere close to how he wanted them to be….but at least it was a start.